In this Endless Sea
by J'ai besoin d'un biscuit
Summary: Percy Jackson was many things, and a patient person was not one of them. No one seems to understand that they need to go and rescue Nico right now. As she and her friends battle their way to Rome and beyond, they'll discover that a violent Earth deity and evil monsters aren't the only problems they're facing. Fem!PercyxNico
1. Chapter 1

So, the author's note explaining this story and warning you about things you might not like. I'll try to keep it brief.

1) This is a fem!Percy story, because I firmly believe that there aren't enough stories out there with believable female heroes and I just love writing about Percy. Besides, I think it's interesting how all the relationships in the book are affected if Percy is a girl.

2) This a fem!PercyxNico story, and that plotline will play a major part. There will also be Jasper, Frazel, Leo and his many attempts at romance, and mentions of other canon couples. There will also be mentions of Lukabeth.

3) As a reader who is over the age of 14, I'm going to make this story and the characters a little more dark and mature. The books have so many dark themes already (suicide, murder, revenge, kidnapping, etc.), so I'm just going to explore them a little more deeply. There will still be humor, this isn't an angsty fic, but it's going to deal with some pretty deep issues.

4) I am changing Nico's age. He is only a month or so younger than Percy.

If you don't like any of these things: you have been warned. Abandon ship now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, Greek mythology, or a teddy bear.

* * *

Percy Jackson was many things. A devoted daughter, a loving sister, a dedicated friend, and a hero.

She was not, however, a patient person.

It had been three days since the _Argo II_ had landed in the Roman Camp. Three days. And they still hadn't sailed for Rome yet because the stupid, stupid Senate insisted on having meeting after meeting, and meetings about their meetings, and meetings to decide if they should have meetings about their meetings. If Percy had to give one more dramatic speech about fellowship and working together and loyalty she was going to throw up. Preferably on Octavian.

Needless to say, the daughter of Poseidon was growing distinctly impatient.

It's not like she wanted to go rushing into another war; she hadn't even had time to recover from the last one yet. She had just regained all her memories, and some of them she wished had stayed gone. Like watching a brave boy blow himself up, knowing there was nothing she could do but turn and run like a coward. Like standing by as another boy committed suicide with a knife, taking her best friend's heart with him to the Underworld as he died a hero. No, Percy Jackson, the great Hero of Olympus, would have done just about anything to avoid going to war again.

But what no one seemed to understand, not even Annabeth, was that Nico was _missing_ (well, Hazel, understood, but she's a Roman so she believes in all this caution and planning). Annabeth kept telling Percy to calm down, to wait until they could gain the Romans' trust and plan out their attack, but Percy was tired of waiting. Nico, who had become one of her very best friends, had been captured by Gaea because he was a brave stupid _idiot _that had to go charging off to try and close the Doors by himself. Gods only knew how Nico, one of the most frighteningly powerful demigods in existence, had even managed to get himself kidnapped. But one thing Percy did know from her limited experience with the Earth deity was that she wouldn't be content with keeping her prisoner in a nice, comfy cell; Percy was sure Gaea would at bare minimum try to manipulate Nico and mentally torture him. And that was thinking optimistically. That's why they needed to find him _now_.

But instead of going off to his rescue Percy found herself tuning out yet another one of the Teddy Bear Murderer's lengthy speeches. She found herself, yet again, tapping her foot out of a nervousness that was beginning to verge on panic. Every minute wasted here was another minute Nico was in danger. In the end, though, she knew that they would find him, that everything would turn out fine and could go back to the way it was. Nico had to be all right.

He just had to.

* * *

So that was basically just a prequel where I got the annoying details out of the way and set the stage. The rest of the chapters will definitely be way longer.

If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them; I have the general plot laid out but not the details.


	2. Chapter 2

So here it is, Chapter 2. I'll say more at the end, but now for the obligatory disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.

* * *

Nico was having a hard time thinking clearly. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was covered in bruises and his body _ached_. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he couldn't remember the last time he ate. Maybe it had something to do with his lack of sleep. Maybe it had something to do with the dreams. Terrible dreams that made the rare moments of sleep worse than being awake. Dreams of the people he'd lost, and even worse, the people he could lose.

That thought made him straighten. What was he _doing_? Laying here moaning about his problems like a prissy Aphrodite girl? He had to figure out how to get out of here, he had to warn them! He frantically got to his feet, but all that did was make him acutely aware of a headache he hadn't even realized he had. He had to think, damn it; he had to figure out some way to get out of here before they came to rescue him.

If they came to rescue him, they'd be trapped, too.

* * *

Percy tapped her foot impatiently, a regular habit of hers: she wasn't diagnosed with ADHD for nothing. If only the Roman Camp had an ocean nearby, the salt water always calmed her down. As it was, she was sitting on the bank of the Little Tiber, but the river was not helping to ease her nerves.

After more debates and long-winded speeches, the Senate had finally given the Argo II permission to set sail ("How magnanimous of them," Annabeth had observed). Now all that needed to happen was for everything to get loaded onto the ship and then they could be on their way.

"Percy!" She turned to see Hazel walking towards her. "Jason and Leo are making sure we get all the supplies we need, and Frank and Annabeth have almost finished all the plans. We should be leaving in about two hours."

Percy nodded, trying very hard not to let out an annoyed sigh. She looked up at Hazel, who was dragging the toe of her shoe through the dirt, making little meaningless designs. She thought to herself that this seemed like a childish thing to do, then she remembered that Hazel was only thirteen years old. Sometimes she forgot how young her friend was. Sometimes she forgot how young they all were.

"This is just as hard for you, isn't it? The waiting, I mean." Percy asked, more as a distraction than anything else.

Hazel glanced up at her friend, golden eyes shining. "I owe my life to Nico. He gave me a second chance, a chance to redeem myself. Plus, he's the only family I have now, if something happens to him…"

"It won't," Percy cut in decisively. "Nico's been through a lot, he'll get through this, too." He has to, she added to herself, something she seemed to be saying a lot lately.

"I hope you're right. It's just, I didn't realize how much I'd started to rely on him for advice, I keep thinking 'Oh I'll just ask Nico,' but he isn't there. I… I just really miss him."

Percy watched Hazel dig her toe further and further into the ground, wondering what could be bothering her this much. It was probably something to do with Frank, or maybe it had to do with Leo Valdez? It had to be strange, after all, to meet a guy who was the great-great grandson of the boy you had liked. She wished she knew what to say.

"You know, I'm not really good at the whole advice thing, but if you ever want to just talk to me you can," Percy finally said. Hazel nodded, a small smile gracing her face for just a moment before she went back to digging in the dirt, this time with her other foot.

"He'll be all right," Percy found herself stating. "He'll be all right." She said it again, wondering just how many times she'd have to repeat it before either of them really believed it.

* * *

Think, damn it, Nico found himself saying over and over. How did you get here? _Think_!

The Doors! He was trying figure out how to close the Doors of Death. He had shadow traveled over here and then… everything got hazy. What had happened? And where the hell was here?

His musings were interrupted by the grating sound of a door being drug open. Nico looked up, knowing it could be one of two people. He sincerely hoped it was the jailor who brought him food and not... he shuddered involuntarily. Thankfully, one of the Earthborn lumbered into his line of sight, carrying a ring of keys in one hand, a cup of water in another, and finally a plate of delicious, wonderful _food_. His jailor set down the food and water, making sure to keep an eye on his prisoner and stay well out of grabbing distance (he learned that after Nico's first escape attempt). He kicked the meal towards his prisoner then walked over towards the door, which Nico knew the Gegeine had to use all six arms to haul open. "Bad door," the giant muttered, repeating these words over and over as he finally managed to slam it shut again. Nico knew from watching his guard countless times that the door melted back into the wall as soon as the Earthborn had left.

As Nico began devouring the food (cheese and disgustingly grainy bread, Demeter would be proud), he realized that it had probably been at least three days since he had eaten. It was hard to keep track of time in here, he thought, as he glanced around at the windowless space with the dirt walls, floor, and ceiling; of course Gaea would have an underground cell made of dirt. The only thing in it was a bucket which he used to go to the bathroom, other than that the room was completely bare. I wonder how Gaea gets it to stay light in here, he thought, gulping down the water. I wonder how she keeps enough oxygen in here for me to breathe…

Stop it, he ordered himself, cursing his demigod ADHD. Run through it all again. How did you get here? How can you get out?

-Flash back-

After saying goodbye to Percy and Hazel, Nico shadow traveled to Rome. That's where he was going to start his scouting; he had a fairly good idea of where the Doors would be, and knew that it probably wasn't here. But Gaea was up to something in this city, too, and he wanted to try and figure out what it was. Besides, he had visited Rome before on several of his adventures, and he figured it might be a good idea to start his search in a place he knew well, just in case something went wrong.

He appeared in a garden behind one of the stunning villas gracing the northern part of the city, as he didn't want to land on top of some tourist at the Coliseum (again). He barely paid any attention to the beautiful scenery; he was on a mission. He started heading across the gardens, looking for an exit. After he left here he was going to head south, keeping an eye out for a place where he could buy some cheap food in case he needed to do some summoning later.

Nico had reached a particularly deserted stretch of grass when he felt something tugging at his feet. He looked down and noticed with horror that his shoes were already buried about an inch deep into the dirt, and it was still rising. He looked around in panic and tried to bolt towards the nearest shadows, but it was no use. He sank further and further into the ground, kicking and struggling all the while. Soon the dirt had reached his torso, then his neck. As the dirt closed over his head he began to choke, but the dirt kept pulling him down, down, down. Finally, just when he thought he was going to suffocate, he fell into an open space. He hit the floor hard and everything faded to black.

-End Flash back-

So that was how he had ended up here. How stupid could he have been, shadow traveling into the middle of a deserted park? It would have been better to flatten a tourist than to be captured by Gaea. Now he was stuck in this room which had no doors or windows, except for the one that appeared when the Earthborn came in. And even that door wasn't helpful. The first time Nico had tried to escape he had knocked the guard out cold and sprinted towards the door, only to be met by six more Earthborn outside. And these Earthborn were armed with nasty, pointed rocks. So the only way out was through a disappearing door which was heavily guarded by monosyllabic giants.

Normally he could have escaped easily, heavily armed guards or not, but he couldn't use his powers. It seemed as though Gaea had been planning this all along and had designed the prison specifically to counteract his powers. He couldn't summon skeletons or spires of rock, presumably because he was so deep within Gaea's domain that his father's control over the underground meant nothing here. He was surrounded so completely by the Earth deity's power that he couldn't even get a message through to Mrs. O'Leary or any of the of the other creatures of the Underworld. Also, there were no shadows anywhere within the room that he could bend to his will or use to travel; the dim light seemed to come from all directions. And finally, worst of all, they had taken his sword. So he was virtually defenseless.

It also didn't help that they were keeping him weak, giving him just enough food to survive on and not providing him with anything comfortable to sleep on. Plus there were the "interrogation" sessions…

Stop it, he ordered himself again. You have to get out of here before Percy and Hazel come barging in here trying to rescue you. He felt his stomach clench at the thought of his baby sister or Percy being locked up in here, subjected to everything he was. He let out a growl and began pacing his cell. He made a vow then and there that if any of Gaea's minions _dared_ to lay a hand on his family or his Percy he would slaughter them all with his bare hands, powers be damned.

* * *

"Well, I think that's everything. ¡Vamos, amigos!"

"Does he always speak Spanglish?" Percy asked the daughter of Aphrodite, what was her name? Pepper? No, Piper. She'd have to make a better effort to get to know the new Greeks and Jason on this trip.

"Usually. Leo likes to confuse people. Just wait, he speaks in Morse code, too. You'll be having as normal of a conversation as you can have with him and suddenly he'll start talking in dashes and dots." The two girls shared a laugh as Annabeth and Frank walked over.

"I've finalized our route," Annabeth started a little breathlessly. "We're going to travel for as long as possible in the air, we'll make better time. I have a feeling that the closer we get to Rome, though, the more storm spirits will attack us. Once they get to be too much to handle we'll continue the rest of the voyage by sea." Frank nodded, looking a little uncomfortable (as always).

"We should get going," this time it was Jason who spoke. "No reason to delay any further." He turned to say goodbye to Reyna. Percy noticed an ugly look cross Piper's face and thought to herself, So someone else has a thing for Blondy. Shaking her head, she went with Frank and Hazel to say goodbye to their friends in the Fifth Cohort.

Dakota handed them each flagons of Kool-Aid for good luck ("I made yours blue" he slurred at Percy) while Gwen told them to stay out of trouble. The rest of their cohort wished them well; even Hannibal was there to send them on their way. Finally, Percy reached Reyna.

"Good luck, my fellow praetor," Reyna said, shaking her hand. "You may have only been here for a few days, but I can already tell that you are an amazing fighter and leader. Stay safe."

"I'll try my best," Percy replied with a smile. "And don't worry, I'll also try my best to make sure everyone comes back."

"I know you will," Reyna gave her a hard look. "That's what worries me. Promise me you won't do anything rash."

Percy was saved replying by Octavian barging into their conversation. "On this momentous occasion, I can only wish you the best, my esteemed praetor," he exclaimed, not quite managing to mask the sarcasm. He reached to shake Percy's hand, and when she reluctantly gave it to him he pulled her in close. "If anything goes wrong, if any of the Romans don't come back from this quest, I will hold you to your oath," he hissed in her ear. "And if I do decide to spare your life, you will be entirely in my debt." Percy wrenched her hand out of his grasp, trying to ignore the leer on his face. "Mark my words well, _graeca_," he shouted at her retreating form.

"What was that about?" Jason asked her, looking troubled. She just shook her head and moved past him onto the deck of the ship.

Percy knew she had a lot to worry about. Apparently there was a love triangle to consider (between Piper, Reyna, and Jason), and everyone knew it was only a matter of time before love triangles blew up in everyone's faces. Hazel was having some issues beyond just missing her brother. There was the possibility that everyone on this ship was going to end up fighting and trying to kill each other, which would start another Civil War. Now there was the added worry of Octavian's scheming. Not to mention the usual problems: ancient powers trying to take over the world, depressing prophecies, and bloodthirsty monsters.

But as the Argo II took off into the air, Percy couldn't make herself care too much, because, finally, _finally_, they were on their way. They were on their way to save Nico.

* * *

So, some unanswered questions! What does Hazel need advice about? What are the "interrogation sessions" that Nico mentioned? And will the demigods be able to rescue him, or will they all be captured by Gaea? Who knows? Besides me, of course.

Not sure how long I'm going to make this- it'll probably end once they rescue Nico.

And to reiterate why I'm writing fem!Percy: I like the character of Percy Jackson, but I also like the idea of having a strong female hero that's the center of the story (props to the Hunger Games). Besides, I love Nicercy but could not write slash to save my life, and I think it's interesting how all the rest of the relationships in the book are affected. So basically, no logical reason, I just want to.

Anyways, let me know if you have any suggestions, or just anything to say about anything, really.


	3. Chapter 3

I am so, so sorry.

I can't believe it's been almost two months! I promised myself I was going to update this regularly, and then I decided I wanted to read Mark of Athena before I wrote the next chapter, and _then_ I went and decided to actually have a life for once at the most inconvenient time!

Anyways, I was working on the next chapter for this, the big rescue scene, and I kept running into problems. Mainly, how much do I want to stick to the MoA plot, and how much do I want to make it my own? Needless to say, I'm still working on that one, but in the mean time here's a shorter chapter to tide you over.

* * *

Percy woke up screaming. This wasn't an unusual occurrence for her, what with all the demigod dreams she had to deal with, but this nightmare had been especially horrific. She didn't even try to put it out of her mind and go back to sleep, because she knew it would be pointless. She always felt too restless after dreams like this; she felt like she needed to do something about it, right now. Of course, it was four in the morning and she was trapped on a floating warship, so she didn't have too many options, but there had to be something that could be done. She ran her hands through her hair, subconsciously combing it down a little as she tried to decide what do. She thought about going to talk to Hazel, but telling her what the nightmare was about probably wasn't a good idea. Percy didn't really know Leo or Piper that well, so she didn't feel comfortable talking to them, and as smart as he was, Frank was kind of bad at giving advice and comforting people. Seeking advice from Jason was absolutely out of the question, in fact the very idea made Percy snort with laughter. Finally, she got to her feet and headed out the door. There were no other options; she had to talk to Annabeth.

She knew her friend was under a lot of strain already, so Percy really didn't want to burden her with anything else, but that didn't change the fact that Annabeth was the best person to talk to in this situation. Talking to her was easier said than done, however, since Annabeth had apparently decided to hide in a closet somewhere. Percy looked in Annabeth's cabin, in the engine room, and even down by the stables, but she couldn't find her supposed friend anywhere. It didn't help that she had to sneak around, considering she was already on Coach Hedge's list of troublemakers for "socializing after curfew". Percy still didn't understand why it was such a big deal that she had been talking to her best friend, a _girl_, at night when they were sure no one else would butt into their conversation (looking at you, Jason), but apparently that was beside the point. And Percy really did not want to have a cow bell tied around her neck or be introduced to that club Hedge carried. Finally, after creeping around the entire ship, it occurred to Percy that Annabeth might be on deck.

Sure enough, Percy spotted her friend's curly blonde head almost immediately, after she took in the fact that Leo was still manually steering the ship (or he was playing Mario Kart again, you never knew with him). She waved at the crazy son of Hephaestus then made her way over to the rail, saying "And what's a nice young lady like you doing out at a time like this?"

Even in the dark, Percy knew Annabeth had rolled her eyes and smiled. "Might I point out that you're out at this time, too, Seaweed Brain?"

"You certainly may, Smart Ass. I, however, am neither nice nor a lady."

Annabeth laughed out loud this time, and punched her on the arm (not hard enough to leave too noticeable a bruise). Percy grinned and punched her friend back, but then sobered a little. "Seriously, why aren't you asleep? Bad dreams?"

The blonde nodded. "They aren't even the kind of dreams that are useful, like the ones that provide some sort of insight into what I'm supposed to do. They're literally just bad dreams."

Percy looked her friend over and noticed the bags under her eyes. She knew that there was something else going on, something that Annabeth wasn't telling her. But she also knew that Annabeth would tell you what she wanted to tell you when she wanted to tell you, and if she wasn't telling you then it was for a good reason (gods, Percy needed to get more sleep). So as much as she wanted to pester Annabeth about whatever it was that was bothering her, Percy knew it wouldn't be a good idea.

"I had one of those insightful dreams earlier," Percy started. "They're not that great. In fact, it was absolutely terrifying." Annabeth gave her one of her "Did you really just say that?" looks, which Percy took as an invitation to continue. "It was about…well, it was about Nico. I saw him lying in a room, a dirt room, with no windows or doors or anything. He didn't look good, Annabeth, he really didn't. Then Gaea started talking to me, and she said something about destroying Rome in three days, and how she hoped that Nico could last that long, and a bunch of other horrible things." She rushed through the explanation, saying it almost all in one breath, and then waited almost fearfully for Annabeth to say something.

Instead of replying her friend just frowned, muttering words like "trap" and "three days" and "bait" to herself. Percy finally interrupted this rambling. "Look, it doesn't matter why Gaea kidnapped him, all that matters is that we save him. Annabeth, can we even make it to Rome in three days?"

Annabeth hesitated and seemed to be thinking very hard about what to say next. They had already had so many close calls on this trip, run into so many problems (like soul-possessing demons and giant frothy shrimp) that they were all honestly beginning to wonder if this war would be over before it even really began. And everything was only supposed to get more dangerous as they got closer to Rome. It seemed unlikely that they could ever make it to the city that quickly, much less figure out how to save the son of Hades from the clutches of Gaea and make it out alive. Both girls knew all this, but Annabeth still tried to reassure her friend. "We'll find a way, Percy. We always do."

Percy nodded, staring into the distance and not even noticing the beautiful starry view. Annabeth smiled a little as she asked, "You really like him, don't you?"

The black haired girl coughed and spluttered, finally managing to compose herself enough to stutter: "Wh…Wha…Who? _Nico_? Who told you…What do you…He's just...I'm just...What are you…What?"

And as Annabeth doubled over, laughing hysterically at the flustered look on Percy's bright red face, Annabeth remembered again why she had missed her best friend so much.

* * *

I love Percy and Annabeth friendship! Gah!

Anyways, this chapter is shorter than I wanted it to be, but since it doesn't look like the next bit will be done for a while I thought I'd go ahead and post this.

Oh yeah, and I don't own the characters or the book or mythology or...


	4. Chapter 4

Percy couldn't remember ever being angrier in her life. She stormed into her room, slammed the door, and threw herself on her bed so she could fume in peace. So Jason and Leo thought Nico couldn't be trusted, did they? After he went all the way to Rome, trying to find a way to close the Doors of Death on his own. What did they know about anything? Sure, Nico hadn't exactly been open with his information, and he had explicitly lied to Percy, but there had to have been a good reason. The gods probably made him swear not to tell anyone about the two camps. Percy could just see Hades being all commanding, with a scowl to match the clothes made out of screaming souls, ordering his son "not to meddle with fate." That had to be it. Nico was trustworthy.

_He has lied to you before,_ said an unwanted and irritatingly rational voice in Percy's head. _Who's to say you can trust him this time?_

"Shut up!" Percy growled, ignoring the fact she had basically just declared herself insane by arguing with a voice in her head. What did the voice know anyways? Stupid know-it-all!

Still, the voice did have a point. Percy couldn't really say why she trusted Nico so much now, when not too long ago she had been trying to strangle him in one of his father's dungeons. Maybe it was because no matter how misguided he got (and following the advice of an evil king-ghost with an obvious revenge problem is pretty misguided), he always made the right choice in the end. Come on, he showed up to the Titan War with an army of zombies and three gods in tow. If that's not worthy of redemption, what is?

_Maybe you're just naïve. Maybe the only reason you trust him now is because you're in love with him. He is pretty handsome after all._

"Shut up! That's not why I trust him! His devilish good looks have nothing to do with it!" Percy sighed, realizing that she was losing an argument with herself. That might be a new all-time low.

Percy's internal struggles were interrupted by a knock at the door. She opened it to find Leo, of all people, looking like a kicked puppy.

"What do you want?" Percy tried to ask without sounding too irritated, but it didn't work.

"Look, I just wanted to say sorry. I don't really know Nico, so I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, all right?" Leo's puppy eyes got even bigger. "And I know I don't really know you very well either, but you seem pretty cool, so if you like Nico that much he must be pretty cool, too. Plus he's Hazel's brother, so that makes him pretty awesome…"

As Leo started to ramble about Hazel and why she was awesome, Percy opened and closed her mouth like a fish. Did Leo just imply that she liked Nico, you know, _liked_ him? Did _Leo_ know? How did he know? Did _everyone_ know?

Realizing Leo was still talking, Percy cut him off. "Look, it's fine. Ok? I guess it might seem a little…suspicious that Nico didn't tell anyone about the camps, but I'm sure he had a really good reason. But how about next time you want to question someone's loyalty, you don't do it in front of their baby sister who's worried sick and missing them like crazy? Deal?"

Leo grinned, looking crazier than ever. "Deal. And you know, Jason's sorry, too, if you just…"

"Why don't you go check on Festus? He's got to be in peak condition if we're going to fight giants in Rome." That was all it took to send the son of Hephaestus scampering away. Percy shook her head, wondering if she seemed that spastic to most people. Probably.

As she shut the door and laid back down on her bed, she realized she was bone-tired. She wasn't needed for a few hours, so she should probably try to take a nap. But she couldn't keep herself from dwelling on everything they knew about where Nico was being held.

They had gotten enough information from various nightmares, threats, and divine interventions to learn that two hideous giants with snake feet and a worse fashion sense than Mr. D were holed up in Rome, planning on destroying it while the rest of the world looked on helplessly. More importantly, thought Percy, they were guarding Nico. So now all the crew of the Argo 2 had to do was get to Rome in two days, bust some giant heads, get Nico out of whatever hole he was in, and fly/sail off into the sunset. Oh, and of course Annabeth had her own magical impossible quest assigned to her by her newly schizophrenic mother.

Percy's last thought before she dozed off was: We're all going to die.

* * *

She should have known better than to try to take a nap in the afternoon. That was when the worst dreams came. Demigod dreams were occasionally meaningless (like the one Percy had the other night about being Indiana Jones with a flying blue hedgehog for a side-kick), and occasionally they were used as an express service for various mythological beings to send the demigods messages and signs. Those tended to come at night, though, during the hours when people normally slept. Percy should have known better than to fall asleep at two o'clock in the afternoon, because that's when the worst kind of dreams happened: nightmares.

She found herself in a dirt cell and recognized it from her earlier dream as Nico's prison. Sure enough, the son of Hades was sitting in the corner, with his arms crossed leisurely in front of him and a bored look on his face as if he were sitting in the Roman senate listening to Octavian drone on. Percy had to chuckle: Nico was still playing the bad ass even when he was trapped in a pit. She moved in closer and let out a startled gasp. Nico had looked bad in her previous dream, appearing to be on the point of starvation with various cuts and bruises littering his body. His physical condition certainly didn't look better now, but what made Percy gasp was his eyes. Nico's eyes normally burned with a kind of manic fire (which she knew him to be very proud of) but now they looked…dead. All the fire, all the life had left them. It was obvious that Nico had given up hope.

Percy screamed. She yelled his name, tried to slap him and shake him, anything to get his attention. Nico had seen her in a dream once before, he had to see her again! He had to know that they were coming for him, that _she_ was coming for him, that she would do anything, make any sacrifice to get him out of there. As the dream began to fade, and the image of a broken Nico left her eyes, she gave one final cry of despair.

She woke up with the strangled cry dying in her throat. She made two solemn promises to herself: first, she was going to personally destroy whoever was responsible for doing this to Nico, whether they were giants or not. And second, she was never going to take a nap again.


	5. Chapter 5

Originally they had a plan. It was a good one, too. Annabeth, Frank, and Jason had worked on it for hours until they had finally determined it to be strategically sound from every possible angle. It involved all the demigods but Annabeth, who would be off on her own adventure, and utilized all their strengths and powers to the best advantage.

Which would have been great if they had actually gotten to use it.

As Percy ran down the dank corridor, separated from Piper and Jason and pursued by a hydra, she couldn't help but think that this was why she never bothered to plan anything. When you're a demigod, there are only two things you can absolutely count on.

1) Things will never go according to plan.

2) Things will always be worse than you had imagined possible.

Now Annabeth was off trying not to die while Frank, Leo, and Hazel were gods knew where, having followed what was apparently a false trail. Meaning that only Jason, Piper, and Percy were available to get past the bitterly homicidal nymphs, somehow defeat the invincible drama queen giants, and rescue Nico. Meaning that the plan was utterly useless, and as usual, they had to improvise.

Add in a deathly obstacle course (plus a few crates of unexpected monsters and carnivorous mammals) and even the demigods' improvised assault fell to pieces. While trying to stop the idiot giant in the tutu from unleashing monsters on the city up above, Percy had accidentally unleashed a hydra down below. The monster had forced her down a sort of tunnel away from the giants as she frantically tried to think of some way of destroying it.

She flung a loaf of Wonder bread at it in sheer panic and was surprised by how effective the nasty stuff was: the ensuing mess bought her a couple of seconds, which she used to frantically scan her surroundings. Percy winced as she saw Jason get knocked off his feet by the bigger of the giants and slammed into a wall, but she didn't have time to worry about that right now. She kept examining her surroundings, and finally she spotted something that looked vaguely like a rocket launcher. She dashed over to it and had just started wrestling with the ammunition when she heard a deep voice say, "Bad demigod."

Percy slowly raised her eyes to find herself facing a group of what she could only assume were the Earthborn- she remembered Leo's description of them as armpits with legs and thought it was strangely appropriate. She was distracted from the thought of these guys playing Paddy cake with Briares by the sound of the hydra shrieking with fury.

As she looked back and forth between the hydra (which was now barreling towards her again) and the dim-witted but very large Gegeines, she prayed that Jason and Piper could hold the twin giants on their own. Hopefully Jason was right and Mr. D would actually show up and help them, though Percy didn't have high hopes. Meanwhile she was going to defeat these nuisances, find Nico, break him out of jail, and possibly break his face for putting her through all this worry. But first she had a choice to make: which of the monsters to obliterate first?

* * *

Nico bolted up when he heard a crash from somewhere outside his cell. He staggered in the direction the sound had come from (as near as he could figure) and leaned heavily against the wall, ignoring the sense of vertigo that came from standing so quickly and the throbbing and aching of his muscles.

He placed his ear against the wall and waited silently. He remained absolutely still for a few moments and heard nothing. Just when he began to think he was hallucinating and had imagined the whole thing an ungodly shriek pierced the air, followed by a series of even louder crashes. As he listened ever more intently, he could make out the sounds of fighting: yells and the clash of metal on metal. Finally, unbelievably, he could make out voices. Human voices.

He had so completely given up hope that it took him a few minutes to realize what this must mean. They had come to rescue him. It couldn't be. He thought that they were dead, or that they thought he was dead; either way, he had been entirely convinced that he had been left to rot in this putrid cell. The realization that he might escape after all sent a wave of joy and hope through him.

He almost went weak at the knees, but he wasn't some stupid damsel in distress. Besides, whoever was out there was unlikely to be prepared for what lay in store for them. He had to help! He began to yell and hit the wall, pounding it with his fists and kicking it, trying to do anything that would make some noise and get the attention of those outside. If he could he hear them, they would have to hear him. Wouldn't they? He had seen what awaited anyone who made it to the giants' layer. There were hellhounds and hydras! And the Earthborn. Not to mention the giants themselves. He had to help them! What if it was Annabeth or Frank out there, or gods forbid…Hazel? Or _Percy_?

He was growing more and more frantic, and was about two seconds away from hurling himself at the wall in desperation when he heard it. A scream, followed by the unmistakable sound of an enormous explosion. The walls shook as a series of smaller explosions followed, then…

Silence. Horrible, gut-wrenching, silence.

Nico's knees finally buckled, his weakened and battered body unable to handle the sudden exertion. As he sank to the floor, knowing that whatever hope he had of escape had just been destroyed, he couldn't even feel despair.

All he felt was guilt.

* * *

So, pretty close to MoA, with some Earthborn thrown in and Nico not being comatose in a jar. Let me know what you think! Comments, suggestions, criticism, I'd love to hear it!


	6. Chapter 6

Percy slowly hauled herself to her feet. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision so she could survey the damage she had caused. She had fired the bazooka at a crate of ammunition in the corner, hoping to take out the hydra and a few of the Earthborn at the same time. She hadn't realized that the explosion would be quite that huge- how was she supposed to know? It's not like they had classes on proper bazooka management at Camp Halfblood! She'd have to talk to Chiron about that.

Focusing, she looked around the corridor. Pieces of the dirt wall had been blasted off, with cracks and scorch marks running down what remained. The hydra and all the Earthborn had been reduced to nothing more than charred piles of monster dust. Percy had the distinct suspicion that if she wasn't Poseidon's kid she would be a pile of ashes, too.

She heard voices coming from the main room, demigod voices, and they didn't seem to be screaming in agony. Taking that as enough evidence that she hadn't incinerated her friends, she turned and continued farther into the tunnel. If Jason and Piper couldn't handle the giants, then she would just have to deal with them later. Right now she had bigger fish to fry.

"If I were a psychotic Earth Goddess and I had an extremely dangerous and powerful captive, where would I keep him?" She had been asking herself this question ever since they had first entered the giants' lair. In her dream Nico had been in a dirt cell with walls that looked very similar to those of the corridor she was in. That was all she had to go on for now, so she kept walking. The Earthborn had come from this direction, what were they doing down here? Why weren't they in the main room helping to set up? Unless they had another job to do… like guard a prisoner.

She started running as that idea hit her, knowing that finally,_ finally_, she was close to Nico and praying to every god she could think of, even Hera, that the stupid son of Hades was all right.

* * *

Percy ran for so long that she started to get out of breath. The tunnel went steadily downhill, taking her deeper and deeper within the Earth. She couldn't be certain how long she had been following this path, but she was starting to think she had made the wrong choice by coming this way. Maybe she was reading too much into the Earthborn being down here, maybe they had just gotten lost or something (they didn't seem to be too bright). A nasty thought had also occurred to her: how was she going to find the cell Nico was in? It didn't have any doors or windows, how would she know where it was from the outside? What if she had run right past it?

She was just about to turn around and head back when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It was a very small marking, nothing more than a scratch, really, but something drew her towards it. As she moved closer to the wall, she could make out a small marking etched into the dirt: Γ. It was obviously an ancient Greek symbol, but what was it? Think, Seaweed Brain, think! Then it hit her: that was the symbol for G. G as in Gaea.

Remembering her experiences in the Labyrinth, Percy put her hand on the marking, expecting a magical door to appear. Something did appear, but it wasn't a door. It was a keyhole. And she was pretty sure she had just blown the jailors (and the keys) to bits.

* * *

Nico was slumped on the floor with his head in his hands. At first, after the explosion, he had been filled with a blinding sense of guilt and self-loathing, but now there was nothing. All that filled him now was lethargy and weakness that came with believing there was nothing left to fight for, nothing left to live for. He had been fighting to stay alive and stay himself for so long, and now all that meant nothing. He was worn out; he had nothing left to give.

He couldn't even bring himself to react as he heard a scraping noise coming from the door. He knew it was his jailors coming in to gloat. Before, he would have done his best to exude an air of calculated indifference, but now he just didn't care. His friends were gone, because of him, so what did any of that matter any more? Let them know that they won, let them see that they had broken him. Maybe then this would all finally be over.

The door swung open. Nico waited for it to begin, the tormenting, the bragging, but instead he heard nothing. His jailor seemed to be hesitating in the doorway. What was going on? Was this some kind of mind game? He couldn't bring himself to look up and find out.

Finally he heard a few tentative steps come his way. Then he heard the absolute last thing he expected.

"Hmph. Some welcome this is, Hellboy."

* * *

I'm sorry it's so short but I had to end it there, I just had to. I'm evil like that. Also, I got the ancient Greek symbol for G online, so who knows if it's actually correct. If anyone does know please pass the information on to me.

Next time: reunion! Angst! Awkwardness! And more!


	7. Chapter 7

"Hmph. Some welcome this is, Hellboy."

It couldn't be. His first thought was that this was some cruel trick by his captors; but there was only one person in the world who enjoyed making fun of him by nicknaming him after comic book characters. But that would mean that she was here... No. Impossible. The only reasonable explanation was that his long captivity had finally driven him insane. That was it. He was hallucinating; none of this was real. Look up, he told himself. That will prove that this whole thing is just a delusion.

But somehow, for some reason, he couldn't do it. He kept his head bowed, staring intently at the floor as he heard the shuffling of feet. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and then a hand was placed gently on his arm.

"Come on, Deadman, it's time to get you out of here." There it was again, that voice, saying things that only one person could.

And he kept staring at the floor, knowing that this wasn't real, but still unable to look up and dispel his last tiny shred of hope.

The pressure on his arm increased slightly. "I'm here to get you. Just… please say something. Or at least look at me. Please, Nico."

And for whatever reason, hearing his name was finally enough to motivate him to look up. He slowly ran his eyes from the hand on shoulder up a tan arm, up higher and higher until he finally met a pair of sea green eyes he knew all too well.

"This…" he wheezed, he couldn't remember the last time he had talked normally. He tried again. "This can't be real. You can't _be_ here."

"But I am, Nico. And believe me, I had a hell of a time getting here. If I hadn't spent so much time around the Stolls I wouldn't even have been able to get into this room…"

But Nico wasn't listening. He had just spotted a mark on her other arm, a tattoo that he knew hadn't been there before. It was a Roman tattoo with a trident. He tried to process this, but his brain was working so slowly. It must mean that the Romans had accepted her fully, something he hadn't expected to happen so soon. Wait a minute. If it hadn't occurred to him that she would have a tattoo, and she did have one, then she couldn't be a self-created delusion… but that meant… she was real. This was happening. Percy was alive.

With that realization, he hauled himself to his feet, collapsing and nearly knocking Percy to the ground in the process, but she managed to catch his arm and steady them both. He looked at her more closely, trying to see if she was injured. She was covered in ash and soot, scraped and bruised, but all in all she seemed all right. She was studying him with an expression on her face that he couldn't quite read; if he didn't know Percy Jackson better, he would have said there were tears in her eyes. Then she shook herself a little, like she was snapping out of a daze. She looked down to her hands, which were still clutched around Nico's arm from when she had caught him.

"We should probably go help Jason," Percy said. "You know how Zeus' kids are; they're useless without us."

She picked his arm up and put it around her shoulders. As they started walking towards the door, Nico had to lean on her heavily, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, as he looked at her face a little more closely, he realized that she was smiling now.

And as he walked out of that gods-forsaken cell with his arm around Percy, he couldn't help but smile a little, too.

* * *

She couldn't believe it. She had picked the lock on the door, taking longer than she should have because her hands were shaking so badly. She tried to decide what she was going to do when she saw Nico, whether she was going to split his lip or hug the life out of him, until finally she had managed to get the door open.

She almost puked when she saw him.

He was battered and bruised, and he had lost so much weight. He looked weak and starved, but more importantly he looked utterly broken. He didn't move a muscle when the door opened; he just stayed where he was, slumped in a heap on the floor. It was so unlike him, he was always so stubborn and rebellious, he was the last person Percy ever thought she would see give up like this.

She was so horrified by seeing Nico in this condition that she didn't know what to do. There were so many emotions; shock and horror, anger and rage, but above all there was sadness. He had been through so much already, why him again? Why did he have to get captured? Why did he have to go through this? It wasn't _fair_.

Finally she realized that instead of standing there, maybe she should actually, you know, get him the hell out of there. She said something idiotic, she couldn't even remember what, and walked towards him slowly, finally putting a hand on his arm.

He wouldn't even look at her.

She said something else, practically begging him to do something, anything. Finally he met her eyes.

"This can't be real. You can't _be_ here."

She, the great Percy Jackson, almost burst into tears. Hearing him sound so hopeless... The last time she had hated herself this much was when she had let Bianca die.

She tried to reassure him that she was real, that she was here for him (finally), and something apparently got through to him. She grabbed at him frantically when he lunged to his feet, scared that he was going to topple over and hurt himself even worse. As she met his eyes again, she couldn't help but notice how lifeless they were. He looked like a prisoner of war, for gods' sake. What had they _done_ to him? How could she let this happen to him?

Realizing she was still clinging to his arm like a fangirl, she tried to think of something to say. "I love you so much" was the first thing her brain unhelpfully supplied, which didn't really seem appropriate for the moment (or ever).

She muttered something about helping Jason, then put Nico's arm over her shoulder. He obviously needed support to walk out of here, making Percy wonder how bad some of his injuries were. But that didn't matter now; she finally had Nico back. They could deal with the healing and the apologies later, for right now, all she needed was to know that Nico was alive and safe.

Of course, the fact that Nico seemed to enjoy having his arm around her wasn't too bad, either.

* * *

So I should let you guys know: the next chapter will be the last one. I'll be sorry to see this end, but it's time.

I've given some thought to a sequel, but I'm not really sure how I feel about that yet.

Anyways, as we near the end, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has read and favorited this story, but especially to those who have reviewed. The fact that so many people like this makes me unreasonably happy.


	8. Chapter 8

Percy heard screams. She ran towards the sound and was met with the sight of the Argo II sinking, the entire ship in flames, looking as though it had been ripped to pieces by a giant monster. Her friends, all of them, were being pulled under water by the wreckage; they were thrashing and crying out to her for help, pleading with her to come rescue them.

She dove into the water without a second thought, intent on rescuing her friends, but as soon as she hit the surface she knew something was terribly wrong. She couldn't control the water! She was soaking wet, struggling just to keep her head above the surface. She was still a strong swimmer, though, so she struck out in the direction of her friends. But the closer she got to the wreckage, the worse the waves got. She was being pummeled by them, pushed underwater every time one hit and just having enough time to gasp for air before the next one struck. And still she swam slowly towards her friends.

"Help us!" they begged.

The water was blinding her, the salt stinging her eyes. She was choking, struggling to draw breath. She began to panic, knowing what was going to happen, but her muscles ached, and she knew with certainty that she couldn't go any farther. The water began to fill her lungs as she sank below the surface, the screams of her friends echoing in her ears. She couldn't see, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't move…

She woke with a cry.

It took her a few minutes to realize where she was. She was in her cabin on the Argo II. She was safe, everything was all right. She leapt to her feet and headed up to the deck, knowing she needed air, she needed to breathe. Once there, she buried her face in her hands and she drew in deep breaths, feeling sweat drip down her back. Gods, it had felt so _real_.

"Are you all right?"

Percy jumped when she heard the voice, but relaxed when she realized who it was. "You're supposed to be resting, Nico" she admonished him, while wondering if she looked as bad as she felt right now.

"Couldn't sleep," he said, leaning heavily on the rail next to her. "Besides, I've been cooped up long enough, I needed some air."

She nodded, taking in the view. After she had found Nico, they had headed back to the giants' central lair. Mr. D showed up, Percy formed sort of a bromace with Jason, and they finally defeated the giants. Now they were back on the ship, waiting for Frank, Leo, and Hazel to get back so they could all go rescue Annabeth. Annabeth. Percy felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach just thinking about her friend, but she couldn't do anything to help the daughter of Athena now. They'd rescue her soon.

Percy came out of her reverie when Nico spoke again. "You and Jason are supposed to be resting, too, you both used your powers so much."

"With great power comes great need to take a nap," Percy paraphrased, smirking as Nico nodded solemnly.

Percy looked out over the rail again, trying to figure out what to say. Should she yell at him first for making her worry so much? Or for being such an idiot? Or for lying to her again? Or for pretending he didn't know who she was?

Finally, just when Percy began to work herself into a fury, thinking of all the good reasons she had to deck Nico diAngelo, he turned to her and said, "I'm so glad you're safe."

Well, shit.

"While I was in captivity, the giants… questioned me." The way he paused made Percy think the giants didn't ask for information politely. "They wanted to know all about the Argo II and her crew, but they were especially interested in you. They asked me all these questions about you, and I was so scared that one day I might just… snap. What if I had? What if I had given in? What if they learned how to hurt you through me?"

"They did," Percy whispered without thinking.

Nico tried to work out what she was saying; panicking that somehow he had revealed vital information to his captors. "What do you…"

"I mean," Percy answered with finality, "that I don't think I have ever hurt as much as I did when I realized you were missing."

It wasn't what she had planned to say. She had planned to yell and scream, accuse and blame. But then Nico had to go say something so… well, so sweet and selfless, and all Percy's plans flew out the window.

See, she was right about demigods and plans.

She turned to face Nico completely, so she could better read his facial expression. He might come off as an emotionless, soulless bastard to everyone else, but Percy had always found it pretty easy to guess what he was thinking.

And the look in his eyes right now said it all.

She put a hand on his arm as he began to lean forward. He was close, his face was so close, and then…

"NICO! You're safe!"

The others were back. Hazel ran forward to tackle/hug her brother, while Frank looked around, trying to figure out whether he should give them some privacy or wait to be introduced. Judging by the look on Leo's face, he was the only one who seemed to notice that Percy and Nico had been standing in a slightly compromising position. His eyebrows shot up to his curly hairline, and he began wagging his finger back and forth in Percy's direction.

Percy turned away with a huff to look at Nico, who appeared extremely uncomfortable as his sister fussed over him. As Percy walked below deck to wake up Jason and Piper, she wondered whether it was coincidence or fate that demigods had such bad timing. She and Nico had been about to… and then his little sister showed up. Percy loved Hazel, honestly, and she knew the girl had been missing her brother, but could she not have waited for _five minutes_?

That didn't really matter, though, did it? Nico was back, her friends were safe, and they were on their way to rescue Annabeth. She and Nico would have plenty of time during the journey to the Doors of Death, wherever those might be, to continue what they had started.

* * *

AN: And then Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. It is sad though, Nico and Percy FINALLY make a move just to get ripped apart again.

Anyways, here we are, at the end of the story. It turned out quite a bit differently than what I had planned, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Thank you all for sticking with this; I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
